Sled attachment for automobiles.



E. STANLEY.

SLED ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

' APPLICATION FILED'OCT. 14, I916. 1,229,161.

Patented June 5, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

- in section,

nn STANLEY, or nnnr, mrcnrenn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

sLnn ATTACHMENT non AUTOMOBILES.

Patented June5, 1917'.

Application filedflctober 14, 1916. Serial No. 125,619.

To all whom concern: 1 1 Be it known thatI, ED STANLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hart,

in the county of Oceana and State of Michi-' gan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Sled Attachments for Automobiles,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to sled attachments for automobiles the broad object in view bgimg to provide I runners and -means assoclated thfi'ewith applicable to automobiles after removingfthe front and rear steering and driving wheels thereof, whereby the body and chassis are supported upon. runners andcombined with propelling or driving means adapted to engage a road surface covered with ice, snow or the like.

' One of the chief aims of the present in vention is to provide in connection with the runners and driving means, other means whereby the driving mechanism may be re laxed and. the runners elevated and rollers or wheels used in lieu thereof when the machine is driven into and out of a garage or upon road surfaces which are bars or from which the snow has been removed.

With the above and other objects in view,

the invention consists in the novel construe.

tion, combination and arrangement of parts herein fully I described, illustrated and claimed. a

In the accompanying draw1ngs:-

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the sled attachment applied to an automobile the wheels of which have been removed,

Fig. 2 is a side view on an enlarged scale of one of the runner attachments applied to the rear axle housing, the latter being shown 3 is a of therewith,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary cross section illustrating the runner-lifting means, i Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the front runners,

Fig. 6 is a detailed perspective view of fragmentary view showing one the yoke of one of the rear runners.

Referrin .to the drawings 1 designates the rear driving axle which is of the usual construction at present in 1186111 automo biles, the same being divided and the seethe runners and the parts connected tions thereof being mounted in the rear axle houslng 2 and being connected with each other by the usual differential gearing located within the central housing 3, said parts being ofthe usual construction and arrangement.

In carryingout the present invention, in connection with the rear axle housing, I employ a pair of clamping sleeves 4; each of which is made in two parts divided along the diametrical formed with flanges 5 6, the sections of the clamp t being of such s ze that when the bolts 6 are tightened, the clamp as a whole is held in fixed relation to the adjacent end of the rear axle hous- 2. a Extending downwardly from the outer line of the housing Q and' at their meeting faces through which are inserted; clamping bolts end of each clamp at are downwardly-di verging legs 7 which are strengthened by means of angle braces 8 extending from said legsto the sections of the clamp 1 adjacent to the center of the latter. Connected to the lower extremities of the legs-7 is a yoke 9 having two sets of up-turnedears 10 which are connected by bolts 11 or their equivalents to the legs 7. Cent-rally theyoke is provided with a paii-- of downwardly-extending lugs, 12 which receive between them the knee 13 of a sled runner 14, the knee 13 being connected to and held between the lugs 12 by means of a pivot 15 thuspermiliting the runner to rock in relation to the yo e.

Extending rearwardly from the clamp 4 is a driving frame which, in the preferred embodiment thereof, comprises a pair of side bars or members 16 arranged in spaced relation to each other and connected by pivare connected by one or more braces 19.

FJournaled in the rear extremities. of the brace 16 is a rotary shaft 20 having fast thereon atoothed or. transversely ribbed traction or driving wheel 21 which o'per-, ates between the extremities of the members 16. Fast 011 the sameshaft '20 with the ots 17 to lugs 18 on the clamp 4. Between 1 their ends, the frame members or arms 16 tened on the adjacent end of the driving axle, taking the place of the adjacent driving wheel of the automobile.

The means for depressing the driving frame and traction wheel above referred to, comprises a lever 25 which is connected by a pivot 26 to lugs 27 on the clamp 4. Connected by a pivot 28 to the upper end of said lever i a rod 29 the other end of which is slidably insertrzl through a hole in a combined guide and spring seat 30. A coiled expansion spring 31 bears at one end against the guide 30 and at its opposite extremity against a tensioning nut 31 which is threaded on the rod for the purpose of increasing or diminishing the tension of said spring thereby causing the latter to act with greater or less depressing force on the driving frame and traction wheel. A contractile spring 32 is connected at one end to the lever 25 and at its opposite end to a lug 33 on the driving frame, the last named spring by being connected to the lower arm of the lever 25, serving to assist the expansion spring 31 in depressing the driving frame. A rod or other suitable connection 35 extends from the lower extremity of the lever 25 through a lug 36 extending downwardly from the clamp 4 and provided with an adjusting. nut or device 37 whereby the last named rod may be adjusted for the purpose of either tensioning or relieving the driving frame-depressing spring to adapt the mechanism to be operated upon a snow-covered road surface or upon a surface which is not covered with snow, such as the floor of a garage.

39 designates an obliquely-disposed brace rod which extends to a collar 40 fastened to the rear axle housing adjacent to bolts 42. The block is shown asprovided with two lugs 43 adapted to receive the rear extremities of two brace rods such as just above described, it being understood that two driving frames and traction wheels are used in connection with the rear axle housing and both. of the traction wheels are driven by chains from the sprocket wheels on the opposite extremities of the rear driving axle.

Each of the front runners 4a is formed with an outwardly-extending inserted V- shaped knee i5 provided. at a suitable elevation with a knuckle spindle box 46 adapted to fit over one of the spindles of the steering knuckles of the machine upon which it is secured by the usual nut, the same as one of the front wheels of an automobile. The front runners as well as the rear runners are thus adapted to rock in a fore and aft direction.

Each of the runners is provided with raising and lowering means the same consisting of a pair of wheels or rollers 47 each of which is journaled on the arm 48 of a. sector ar ell-mounted on a journal 50 extending literally from the runners. Located above the sector gears is a worm shaft 51 having two worms 52 which mesh with said sector gears, the worm shaft having one or both ends thereof squared to receive a suitable wrench. By turning said shaftin one direction, the rollers or wheels may be depressed below the bottoms of the runners in order to enable the vehicle to be propelled over a bare road surface and by turning said worm shafts in the opposite direction, said wheels are elevated to a position above the bottoms of the runners, enabling the latter to rest in full contact with the road surface.

In view of the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will now be seen that the pressure of the traction wheels on the road surface may be regulated to suit varying conditions and that whenever necessary the tension on the traction wheels may be relieved to such an. extent that they will not be injured by a bare road surface nor will they injure said surface. Furthermore, the runners may be elevated out of contact with a bare road surface thus rendering the mechanism particularly desirable in that an automobile equipped with the sled attachment may be readily driven into and out of a garage and over other bare places in a read surface without injury to either the driving mechanism, the runners or the road surface.

What is claimed is 1. The combination with the axle housing of an automobile, of a longitudinally divided sleeve-like clamp adapted to be fastened thereon, downwardly-diverging legs on said clamp, a runner having an upwardly-extending "knee, and a yoke connecting the clamp legs and the runner knee and having a pivotal connection with the knee of the runner, adapting the runner to rock in a fore and aft direction.

2. The combination with the rear axle housing of an automobile, of a support having a fixed. relation to said housing, a runner attached to said support, a driving frame pivotally connected to said support and extending rearwardly therefrom, a traction wheel journaled in said driving frame and geared to and actuated by the driving axle of the vehicle, a lever. pivotally mounted on said support, a rod extending rearwardly from an arm of said lever, a guide on the driving frame through which said rod is slidable, a frame depressing spring surrounding said rod, and means connecting said lever with said support, whereby the tension of said spring may be regulated.

3. The combination with the rear axle housing of an automobile, of a sleeve-like clamp surrounding the .same-and having a fixed relation thereto, a runner attached to said clamp, a driving frame pivotally connected to said clamp and extending rearawson wardly therefrom, a traction Wneel jcurnaled in th'e' rear end of said driving frame and geared to and actuated by the driving axle of the machine, a lever pivotally mounted between its ends on said clamp, a rod extending rearwardly from the upper arm of said lever, a guide on the dri frame through which said rod is slidable, a framedepressing spring surrounding said rod, a

contractile spring connecting the lower arm of said lever with the driving frame, and means connecting the lower arm of said lever with said clamp, whereby the tension of said contractile spring may be regulated for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

4 ED. STANLEY. 

